


Sweet, Meet Savoury

by mjk



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Kakashi being a silly goose, Maybe OOC, Plot Bunny Realized, Pre-Relationship, Rare Pairings, Slice of Life, office life, slightly self-indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:02:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23654299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mjk/pseuds/mjk
Summary: Every office has a baker.  That someone who's always bringing in treats and goodies, and well, of course, in the Tower, that was Shizune.  She's got almost everyone pinned down, but Kakashi, he's still a mystery to her, evasive as always.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Shizune
Comments: 5
Kudos: 28





	Sweet, Meet Savoury

Shizune loved baking. Really loved it. It was just like making poisons and antidotes, but infinitely more satisfying. The aromas wafting through her home, the warmth from her oven, the sense of accomplishment of a job well done, results that she could enjoy right away.

There was nothing better than a warm biscuit straight from the oven. Settling into her futon with a nice cup of tea, a freshly-baked biscuit, and her favourite blanket was the best end to her long, stressful days.

The only problem with baking (other than dish duty) was that she ended up with dozens of pastries, and since she lived alone, there was no one else to eat them. Shizu was happy when she finally settled back down in Konoha, got an office, and was able to bring these treats in for her peers. It was a win-win for her. No more stale pastries staring back at her at the end of a long week, and she loved the feeling of satisfaction when she saw someone smile after taking a bite of something she'd made, something she’d taken the care and effort to create.

After a while, she learned what her colleagues liked and didn’t like. Kotetsu didn’t like dark chocolate, so she’d made sure to use semi-sweet chips in biscuits for his sake. Izumo loved coconut, so Shizu tried to make coconut bars once a month for him. Tsunade took a liking to cherry-flavoured treats, so Shizune always had those on hand, and Naruto loved red bean, so she made sure to make anpan regularly for him. She herself loved mango, but it was so pricey that she saved that for herself.

The only person she couldn’t pin down was Kakashi. He seemed to like everything she brought in, even the experiments. He always happily tried the things she made, so colour her surprised when she found out in passing that he didn’t like sweets at all. It was a complete accident that she’d even found out. She was on her way back to the office from lunch with a few friends when Shizune stopped to look in a bakery window. She thought it might be nice to bring something back for her fellow worker bees and was debating which item to choose - a pint of the delicious ice cream or the delicious-looking mochi - when Gai boisterously commented how “cool” his rival was for avoiding the siren call of sugar when he himself was drawn to them like a wayward sailor lost at sea.

To say Shizu was confused would be an understatement. If Kakashi didn’t like sweets, why did he always partake when he came through the office? It didn’t make any sense. The next time he came by, she would be sure to ask him.

It had been a while since that day when Kakashi finally sauntered in as he did, and Shizune had nearly forgotten the incident, but when he reached for a piece of toffee on his way out, she remembered almost instantly.

“Kakashi-san!” Shizune called, rushing into the hallways before he could walk too far, “Can I ask you something?”

As he turned, he managed to pop the piece of toffee into his mouth in a flash, covering his elusive visage before she could even catch a peek. She would be miffed by that if she wasn’t already preoccupied by another mystery about the elusive man in front of her. He stopped as she neared, his head tilted, patiently waiting for her inquiry, asking her to continue.

“Why do you always take a sweet from my office when you don’t like sweets?” she asked, getting straight to the point.

Kakashi took a moment to consider her question. He didn’t realize that she’d caught on to his little ruse, but it seemed the jig was up.

“Maa,” he drawled, slightly shrugging his shoulders, "They always look so tempting, I can't help myself."

It wasn't completely a lie. He was trying not to let on how much he liked her wide, unguarded smiles or how much he enjoyed being the reason she was smiling. He hadn't even realized why he was doing what he was doing when it happened the first time. It was just another day in Konoha. Kakashi was dropping off a mission report and on his way out of the office when he saw a group of his juniors crowded around Shizune's door. When he saw what they were gathered around, he didn't think anything of it, but then he looked up and that bright smile struck him full-force. It seemed odd that he would be draw to a bowl full of sugary snacks when normally he loathed anything so cloyingly sweet, but when he'd seen how pleased she was, how much she'd lit up after Kotetsu complimented one of her snacks, Kakashi couldn't quite help himself and plucked a treat from the bowl.

Her skepticism must have been evident on her face because when she looked back up at him, he just shrugged.

“Don’t worry about it, Shizune,” he replied,” Consider it another odd habit of mine.”

And then he poofed away, leaving her in the hall, still lost. Telling Shizune not to worry was like telling her not to breathe. After a while, she decided to just accept his answer for now. If he wasn’t comfortable opening up to her about his actual reason, she wouldn’t push no matter how much it bothered her.

It didn’t really matter in their day-to-day anyway as she usually saw so little of him. But when she saw that he was scheduled to come by the office later that week, she decided to do a little something special just to be considerate - return the favour, so to speak, for his humouring her. Because Shizune knew he was humouring her even if she didn't know why. This time, instead of a sweet dessert sitting on her desk, there was a large bowl of sesame-seaweed mini-crackers. She’d never brought anything savoury in before even though she did bake savoury bites at home. Shizune hoped everyone loved these as much as they loved the sweets that she usually brought in, but she was hoping one particular person would like them this time.

Shizune didn’t even look up when Kakashi passed by her door on his way to the assignment desk, trying to play it cool and not be obvious like his fangirls were. She hoped that he would still stop by even though he knew that she knew that he didn’t like sweet things now. Shizu tried very hard to focus on her work, to ignore the oddly nervous anticipation roiling in her stomach, to not care if he stopped by after getting his mission, but she was struggling. Honestly, she didn’t even know why she was so worried about this.

To be honest, she was really hoping that he’d notice, that he’d like what she’d made. She did after all, choose this bake with him in mind. She’d done some stealthy research and found out he preferred salty, umami foods from Gai who’d long forgotten their moment at the bakery and was none-the-wiser about her inquiries. Gai had actually declared, rather exuberantly, that Kakashi liked salted fish and miso, but like hell was Shizune going to bake something like that. So she looked for the best approximation of those flavours and settled on the crackers. They came out well, if she did say so herself, and even if he walked right by her office without a single glance, she’d be happy with the result.

She was so mired in her thoughts that she completely missed Kakashi walk by her door, and when she finally looked up, she realized it was much too quiet in the hall for anyone to still be there. She couldn’t help the wave of disappointment that washed over her when she realized that he’d already gone.

“Oh, come on now,” Shizu thought, “You knew this was a possibility.”

Sighing deeply, the doe-eyed assistant decided to check on Tsunade, make sure the blonde was actually working and hadn’t run off somewhere to have a drink. Shizune couldn’t shake the twinge of sadness, though, as she caught sight of half-full bowl of cracker bites.

“I’ll just have to make soup this week, I suppose," she mused to no one on her way into the hallway.

Unbeknownst to her, Kakashi had carefully waited down the hallway for the moment Shizu left her desk to sneak in and grab a snack. He was being weird and cagey; he knew it, but he couldn’t help himself. Being caught in his ruse a few weeks ago was embarrassing enough, and he didn’t want to go around being obvious when he wasn’t sure what her feelings towards him were or what his even meant. All he knew was that he liked making her smile, that he would do silly things to see it - like eat sweets that he would never otherwise come near - just so she would be a little happier when he left than when he’d arrived. He was fully expecting to play it cool, walk past her office like he didn’t even know she was there when his ever-perceptive nose caught wafts of soy sauce and seaweed and a hint of ginger. His mouth watered after just catching the scent through her door. He wasn’t trying to be sneaky; he really wasn’t, but what was he supposed to say when he saw her?

So he waited. Only for a few minutes, he told himself. He could be off-putting, but he wasn’t a creep. And his opportunity came soon enough as he thanked whatever gods made Shizune a worrier and Tsunade a flight risk. So, he snuck into her office, making a beeline for the bowl. They tasted just as delicious as he thought they would. Salty and savoury from the soy and seaweed, hint of richness from the sesame, pop of punchiness from the ginger that lingered on his tongue. Kakashi could have stayed and eaten handfuls if he’d had the luxury of time, but Shizune would probably be back soon, and he had a mission to complete. He left much the way he came, leaving without a sound.

When Shizune returned to her office, she almost missed the note hanging off the corner of her desk. It was unassuming, but once she spotted it, a small smile bloomed across her face. The handwriting was one she recognized from the many reports she’d read.

“If you’re making soup, might I suggest a nice kenchin?”

Shizune glanced over at the noticeably emptier bowl and couldn’t help the giddy grin that was making its way across her face. He was such an odd one, that Kakashi. She knew that she should feel a bit weird that he was skulking about earlier, but she was too busy being happy to upset at the moment.

“I wonder what I’ll bake next,” she thought as she sat down, her bright smile not as wide but no less present, “Maybe something else savoury, hm.”


End file.
